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“Why does it matter if sunrise comes?” I ask.

“Does it?” Miranda replies.

“Didn’t you say something about...?” I shake my head. We’re getting distracted. “Never mind. Okay. We’re going. And no one’s paying any toll. Agreed?”

Vanessa huffs loudly, but no one objects. When I set out, the others follow—but I can feel their nervousness behind me. Fear is beginning to truly set in. And we have a long way to go yet.

INTERVIEW

MELANIE WHITTAKER

May 9, 2017

Melanie Whittaker sits with her hands pressed together in her lap, leaning forward. Where the other room appears to be a converted storage room, this was clearly an office, a window on one wall overlooking what appears to be a warehouse interior, and a desk shoved in the corner. Mel sits in a faded blue swivel chair, the cushion split and fraying.

Mel jumps when the door opens. Abigail Ryder enters. She wears black gloves and carries a file folder under one arm, thick with papers.

ABBY: Sorry about that. I had to help Dr. Ashford with something.

She takes a seat across from Mel.

MEL: It’s fine. You’re talking to Sara, right? She’s here?

ABBY: Yeah. You can talk to her when we’re done, if you want.

MEL: I don’t know if that’s a good idea.

ABBY: It’s your call. But for now we should keep going.

MEL: You want to know about Miranda, right?

Abby hesitates. Then she shakes her head.

ABBY: We’ll get to that. Right now we should talk about the town.

MEL: I don’t know if I should talk about this part.

ABBY: Because of the situation with the Jeffries family? I don’t think anything you tell me is going to matter, honestly.

MEL: Should I—should I talk to a lawyer first, or...?

ABBY: Look. No one is going to ask us about any of this. Dr. Ashford’s been stripped of tenure and no university will even look at his résumé. They think he’s crazy. So even if the police or anyone elsedidbother to ask us, they wouldn’t believe us.

Abby sits back a bit. She glances at the camera, frowns.

ABBY: We don’t have to record this part. If it would make you feel more comfortable. Less...

MEL: Disloyal?

Mel’s voice is a whisper. She thinks, then shakes her head slowly.

MEL: Maybe it would be a good thing, if the truth got out there.

ABBY: That’s more or less Dr. Ashford’s philosophy in a nutshell.

MEL: Not yours?

ABBY: I’m a little less attached to the moral high ground than he is. Personally, I would have picked the tenure over the lifelong quest to prove the unprovable.